U.S. patent number 5,114,292 [Application Number 07/685,527] was granted by the patent office on 1992-05-19 for perfect binder.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Grapha-Holding AG. Invention is credited to Peter Geiser.
United States Patent |
5,114,292 |
Geiser |
May 19, 1992 |
Perfect binder
Abstract
A perfect binder wherein the grippers of a transporting unit
advance discrete stacks of paper sheets along a horizontal path
past a series of successive treating stations from a stack
receiving location of the grippers are located in a common plane,
and those portions of the stacks which require treatment extend
downward beyond the respective undersides. A second unit of the
perfect binder includes a set of treating devices (which can
include aligning panels, milling tools, grinding tools, adhesive
applicators and cover applicators) which are mounted on a platform
beneath the path for the stacks and are individually adjustable
toward or away from the common plane. In addition, the perfect
binder is provided with an apparatus which can move the
transporting unit and/or the second unit toward or away from the
other unit in order to simultaneously alter the spacing of all
treating devices relative to the common plane.
Inventors: |
Geiser; Peter (Matzingen,
CH) |
Assignee: |
Grapha-Holding AG (Hergiswil,
CH)
|
Family
ID: |
4208703 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/685,527 |
Filed: |
April 15, 1991 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 23, 1990 [CH] |
|
|
1364/90 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
412/11; 118/254;
412/37 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B42C
19/08 (20130101); B42C 9/0031 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B42C
19/08 (20060101); B42C 19/00 (20060101); B42C
9/00 (20060101); B42C 013/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;412/8,11,37,900
;118/256,679 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Eley; Timothy V.
Assistant Examiner: Fridie, Jr. Willmon
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Kontler; Peter K.
Claims
I claim:
1. A perfect binder wherein stacks of sheets are bonded to covers
by means of an adhesive, comprising a first unit having means for
transporting a series of stacks along a predetermined path in a
predetermined direction past a plurality of successive treating
stations from a receiving to a withdrawing location, said
transporting means including discrete grippers for the stacks of
said series and said grippers having surfaces disposed in a common
plane; a second unit including a plurality of treating devices, at
least one at each of said stations and each adjacent but spaced
apart from said plane; and means for moving one of said units
relative to the other of said units to thereby change the spacing
of said treating devices from said plane.
2. The perfect binder of claim 1, further comprising means for
individually adjusting the spacing of at least one of said devices
from said plane.
3. The perfect binder of claim 2, wherein said moving means
comprises means for jointly moving said devices relative to said
transporting means and said adjusting means comprises means for
individually adjusting each of said devices relative to said
transporting mean and relative to said moving means.
4. The perfect binder of claim 1, wherein said moving means
includes a carrier for said one unit, a support for said carrier,
and a drive mounted on said support and having means for displacing
said carrier relative to said support
5. The perfect binder of claim 4, wherein said support is adjacent
said plane and said carrier mounts said devices, said displacing
means including means for moving said carrier and said devices
toward and away from said plane.
6. The perfect binder of claim 5, further comprising means for
individually adjusting at least one of said devices relative to
said carrier in directions toward and away from said plane.
7. The perfect binder of claim 6, wherein said carrier has a
surface which confronts the surfaces of said grippers and is
located in a second plane parallel to said common plane.
8. The perfect binder of claim 7, wherein said devices extend
beyond said second plane and said second plane remains at least
substantially parallel to said common plane during and subsequent
to displacement of said carrier relative to said support.
9. The perfect binder of claim 1, further comprising means for
indicating the positions of said one unit relative to said other
unit.
10. The perfect binder of claim 9, further comprising computerized
control means for said moving means, said control means including
said indicating means
11. The perfect binder of claim 1, further comprising means for
individually adjusting the spacing of at least one of said devices
relative to said plane and means for indicating the positions of
said at least one device relative to said plane.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to improvements in bookbinding machines in
general, and more particularly to improvements in bookbinding
machines of the type known as perfect binders wherein the backs and
certain other portions of stacks of paper sheets are coated with
adhesive prior to attachment of covers. Such machines can be
utilized for mass production of books (e.g., soft cover books),
brochures, pamphlets and similar printed products.
It is already known to provide a perfect binder with a transporting
unit having a set of grippers or tongs which can be closed to
engage discrete stacks of sheets at a receiving location and to
thereupon advance the engaged stacks past several successive
treating stations (where various tools treat selected portions of
the stacks, particularly those portions which extend downwardly
beyond the undersides of the respective grippers) and on to a
removing or withdrawing location. The undersides of all grippers in
the path between the receiving and removing locations can be
disposed in a common plane. It is further known to provide such
perfect binders with mechanisms which can individually adjust the
distance of each treating tool from the common plane of the
undersides of the grippers. This is desirable and advantageous
because the treatment at one or more stations can be intensified,
eliminated or otherwise altered, depending on the nature of the
conveyed material and upon the desired quality of books, brochures
or pamphlets (hereinafter referred to as books for short).
An important characteristic of a finished stack which is ready to
be connected with a cover is the extent to which the back of the
book (i.e., the lowermost portion of the stack between the jaws of
a gripper) extends downwardly beyond the underside of the
respective gripper. The extent to which the lowermost portion of a
stack which is ready to be adhesively connected with a cover
projects beyond the underside of the corresponding gripper can be
altered by adjusting the level or levels of grinding, milling
and/or other material removing tools which are installed beneath
the path of the grippers between the receiving and removing
locations. In many instances, the height of the lower portion of a
stack beneath its gripper will depend on the nature of the covers
which are to be applied to the treated and adhesive-coated stacks.
Thus, the extent to which a stack projects downwardly beyond the
underside of the respective gripper will determine the width of the
layers of adhesive which can be applied to portions of the two
major sides of a treated stack if a cover is to adhere to the back
as well as to adjacent portions of major sides of the stack of
paper sheets in a finished book.
The person in charge of setting up a perfect binder seeks to
shorten that portion of a stack which extends downwardly beyond the
corresponding gripper because the treatment of stacks is more
difficult if the trimming, milling, grinding and/or other tools are
required to remove a relatively large quantity of paper at the
underside of the path of movement of the grippers. In fact, once
the height of the downwardly projecting portion of a stack reaches
a certain value, the tools at the underside of the path for the
stacks and for their grippers are incapable of removing all of the
material or can remove the material at the expense of the
appearance (quality) of the finished printed products.
In order to facilitate the task of a person in charge of setting up
a perfect binder, the machine is equipped with various gauges or
other indicating instruments which render it possible to ascertain
the positions of various tools relative to the common plane of the
undersides of the grippers for discrete stacks. Individual
adjustment of each treating tool relative to the aforementioned
plane is a time-consuming operation and affects the output of the
perfect binder if the machine is to be set up in a different way at
frequent intervals.
A drawback of presently known perfect binders is that the
instruments which indicate the positions of various treating tools
relative to the common plane of the undersides of grippers for
discrete stacks of printed sheets do not furnish direct indications
of several parameters which are important in order to properly set
up the binder for a particular bookbinding operation. More
particularly, the presently utilized instruments do not indicate
the actual positions of the respective treating tools relative to
the downwardly projecting portions of stacks of paper sheets in the
grippers. Moreover, such instruments do not directly indicate the
levels of the respective treating tools with reference to the
levels of other treating tools. For example, if the height or
length of the downwardly projecting (exposed) lower portion of a
stack exceeds the standard height by 3 mm, the indicator which is
associated with a customary roller-shaped adhesive applicator
indicates 4 mm even though the thickness of the adhesive layer
which is applied to the exposed lower portion of a stack is only 1
mm. The situation is analogous as concerns the information which is
furnished by the indicators cooperating with other treating tools
beneath the path of movement of the grippers and stacks from the
receiving location to the removing location of a standard perfect
binder. Therefore, the person in charge must waste considerable
time to calculate the relative positions of the treating tools and
the positions of such tools relative to the common plane of the
undersides of grippers prior to starting with, or in the course of,
a change of setup. A single relatively minor error can necessitate
the ejection of a large number of unacceptable printed products. As
a rule, final adjustments are made during a test run which involves
the production of a large number of unacceptable books because the
person in charge of altering the setup must examine the quality of
finished products prior to repeatedly adjusting one or more
treating tools in order to eliminate defects or to improve the
quality of the books so that it meets the prescribed norm.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved
perfect binder wherein a change of setup, at least for the making
of certain types of books, can be completed in a simple and
time-saving manner.
Another object of the invention is to provide a perfect binder
wherein a change of setup need not always and invariably
necessitate individual adjustment of each and every treating
tool.
A further object of the invention is to provide the perfect binder
with novel and improved means for changing the positions of the
stack transporting and stack treating units relative to each
other.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a perfect
binder which can turn out larger quantities of books or other
printed products than heretofore known perfect binders even though
its output per unit of time need not exceed the output of
conventional machines.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a perfect
binder wherein a change of setup or a series of changes of setup
can be completed within short intervals of time and without the
making of any discards or in a manner which involves the making of
a negligible number of unacceptable printed products.
A further object of the invention is to provide the perfect binder
with novel and improved means for ensuring that the mutual
positions of various tools need not be changed at all if such
changes are not needed even though the person in charge decides to
change the initial height or length of exposed portions of freshly
admitted stacks of printed paper sheets or the like.
Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved
method of rapidly and predictable changing the setup of a perfect
binder.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a perfect
binder which exhibits one or more of the aforediscussed features
and whose operation can be automated to any desired extent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The perfect binder of the present invention can be used to bond
covers to stacks of sheets by means of an adhesive. The improved
perfect binder comprises a first unit having means for transporting
a series of stacks along a predetermined path in a predetermined
direction past a plurality of successive treating stations which
are located between a stack receiving location and a book or
brochure withdrawing location. The transporting means comprises
discrete grippers for the stacks of the series, and such grippers
have reference surfaces disposed in a common plane. The perfect
binder further comprises a second unit including a plurality of
stack treating devices, at least one at each treating station and
adjacent to but still spaced apart from the common plane, and means
for moving one of the units relative to the other unit to thereby
change the spacing of the treating devices from the common
plane.
The perfect binder preferably further comprises means for
individually adjusting the spacing of at least one of the treating
devices from the common plane. It is presently preferred to employ
means for jointly moving the treating devices relative to the
transporting means. Furthermore, the adjusting means preferably
comprises means for individually adjusting two or all of the
treating devices relative to the transporting means and relative to
the moving means.
The moving means can comprise a carrier (e.g., in the form of a
platform) for the one unit (preferably for the treating devices), a
support (such as a stationary frame or housing) for the carrier,
and means (e.g., one or more rack and pinion drives) for displacing
the carrier relative to the support. If the support mounts the
treating devices, it is adjacent the common plane and the
displacing means of such moving means comprises means (such as the
aforementioned rack and pinion drive or drives) for moving the
carrier and the treating devices toward and away from the common
plane. The adjusting means of such perfect binder comprises means
for individually adjusting at least one of the treating devices
relative to the carrier in directions toward and away from the
common plane. The carrier can be provided with a reference surface
which confronts the surfaces of the grippers and is located in a
second plane preferably extending in parallelism with the common
plane. The treating devices extend or can extend beyond the second
plane toward the common plane, and the second plane remains or can
remain at least substantially parallel to the common plane during
and subsequent to displacement of the carrier relative to the
support.
The perfect binder can further comprise means for indicating the
positions of the one unit relative to the other unit and/or means
for indicating the positions of the at least one (individually
adjustable) treating device relative to the common plane. The
arrangement may be such that the perfect binder further comprises
computerized control means for the adjusting means and/or for the
moving means, and the indicating means for the positions of the one
unit and/or the indicating means for the position of the at least
one treating device can form part of the control means.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the
invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The
improved perfect binder itself, however, both as to its
construction and the mode of operating the same, together with
additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood
upon perusal of the following detailed description of certain
presently preferred specific embodiments with reference to the
accompanying drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary schematic partly elevational and partly
vertical sectional view of a perfect binder which embodies one form
of the invention and comprises five discrete treating stations
between the stack admitting or receiving location and the book
discharging or removing location; and
FIG. 2 is a similar fragmentary partly elevational and partly
vertical sectional view but showing certain additional details of
the improved perfect binder.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a perfect binder having a first
unit which includes means for transporting a series of discrete
stacks 8 of paper sheets along a horizontal or substantially
horizontal path in the direction of arrow P. The transporting means
includes a set of grippers 7 which can be of the type described and
shown in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,971 to Hans Muller and
serve to transport stacks 8 from a receiving location (see FIG. 1
of the patent) to a releasing location where the finished books
leave the machine. The grippers 7 advance the stacks 8 past a
series of treating devices 9, 11, 12, 104-105, 106 which are
respectively located at treating stations 1, 2, 3, 4-5 and 6 at a
level beneath the common horizontal plane 7' of the undersides or
lower surfaces of the grippers. The arrangement is preferably such
that the grippers 7 are advanced at a constant speed along an
endless path leading from the receiving location at or ahead of the
first treating station 1, to the last treating station 6, to the
removing location and back to the receiving location. The stacks 8
are accumulated in a suitable gathering machine (e.g., a machine of
the type described and shown in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No.
4,775,137 to Alfred Glanzmann) and are delivered to the first
treating station 1 in such a way that their sheets or groups of
sheets rest on their backs. Each stack 8 can be assembled of single
or double square folded sheets in a manner not forming part of the
present invention.
Each gripper 7 comprises two jaws which are moved apart not later
than when they reach the treating station 1 so that they permit the
deposition of a freshly delivered stack 8 onto the first treating
device 9 in the form of a table having an upper side or surface 1'
located at a selected distance from the common plane 7' of the
undersides of the grippers 7. The individual sheets or groups of
sheets of a stack 8 which arrives at the station 1 are caused to
contact the upper side 1' of the table 9 so that a predetermined
portion of the stack 8 at the station 1 extends downwardly beyond
the plane 7'. The height of the exposed or accessible lower portion
of the stack 8 at the station 1 equals A+x1 wherein A is the
desired final height of such exposed portion and x1 is the
difference between A and the spacing or distance of the plane 7'
from the upper side or surface 1' of the table 9. The distance A+x1
is selected with a view to ensure the removal of a certain amount
of paper from the exposed portion of the stack 8 at the stations 2
and 3, and to permit the application of two layers or films of
suitable adhesive at the station 4-5, before the thus treated stack
8 reaches the last treating station 6 to be provided with a cover
13. The treatments at the stations 2 and 3 involve removal of a
stack portion having a height x1, and such removal takes place in
two stages, namely at the stations 2 and 3.
The reference character 10 denotes in FIG. 1 a plane which is
parallel to the common plane 7' of the undersides of grippers 7 and
is the plane of the underside of the exposed lower portion of a
stack 8 at the treating station 6. Thus, the distance or spacing of
the planes 7' and 10 from each other equals A.
The jaws of successive grippers 7 are closed at or immediately
downstream of the first treating station 1, namely as soon as the
individual sheets or groups of sheets of a stack 8 come into
contact with the upper side 1' of the table 9. Thus, the sheets of
a stack 8 which is about to leave, or is in the process of leaving,
the station 1 are clamped by the closed jaws of the respective
gripper 7 and remain in clamped condition on their way toward and
past the next-following stations 2, 3, 4-5 and 6 and on to the
delivery location where the freshly formed books are transferred
onto another transporting unit or are evacuated from the improved
perfect binder in any other way.
The stack 8 which is in the process of advancing past the second
station 2 is treated by the second treating device 11 in the form
of a rotary milling tool the upper side 2' of which is spaced apart
from the common plane 7' by a distance A+x2. The difference between
x1 and x2 (i.e., between the levels of the upper sides 1' and 2')
determines the quantity of material which is removed by the milling
tool 11.
The stack 8 which has advanced beyond the station 2 is thereupon
treated by the third treating device 12 in the form of a rotary
grinding wheel at the station 3. The grinding wheel 12 can be said
to constitute a trimming or precision finishing device which
removes material extending downwardly beyond the plane 10. The
height of the thus removed portion of the stack 8 is shown at x3
whereby x2+x3 equals x1. Thus, the distance x3 denotes the
difference between the levels of the upper side 2' of the milling
device 12 and the upper side 3' of the grinding wheel 12. The
distance between the level of the upper side 3' of the grinding
wheel 12 and the plane 10 equals zero, i.e., the distance of the
underside of a stack 8 which has advanced beyond the treating
station 3 from the plane 7' equals A.
The treating station 4, 5 is an adhesive applying station with two
treating devices 104, 105 each of which constitutes a wheel-shaped
or roller-shaped glue applicator. The first applicator 104 applies
a film having a thickness x4, and the second applicator 105 applies
a film having a thickness X5-x4 wherein x5 is the combined
thickness of the two adhesive films. The level of the topmost
portion of the peripheral surface of the first applicator 104 is
shown at 4', and the level of the topmost portion of the second
applicator 105 is shown at 5'. The distance of the level 4' from
the plane 7' equals x4, and the distance of the level 5' from the
plane 7' equals x5.
The treating station 6 accommodates a treating device 106 in the
form of a plate or panel which serves to press a freshly delivered
cover 13 against the underside of the lower or second adhesive
film. The distance x6 is the spacing of the upper side 6' of the
plate 106 from the plane 7'. If the application of adhesive
involves the application of one or more films to the undersides of
successive stacks 8 which arrive at the station 4-5, as well as the
application of adhesive films to the exposed lower portions of
major sides or surfaces of successive stacks 8, the covers 13 are
pressed against the lower portions of the major sides of stacks 8
at the station 6 or at a station which follows the station 6.
The jaws of successive grippers 7 are moved apart upon arrival at
the removing location which follows the fifth treating station 6,
and the finished books are caused or permitted to descend onto or
to otherwise reach a takeoff conveyor or the like, not shown.
FIG. 2 shows certain details of the perfect binder of FIG. 1 plus
certain additional details. In accordance with a feature of the
invention, the perfect binder further comprises means for
simultaneously or jointly moving the treating devices 9, 11, 12,
104-105, 106 at the stations 1, 2, 3, 4-5 and 6 and the
transporting unit including the grippers 7 relative to each other
in order to vary the spacing of the upper sides 1' to 6' from the
common plane 7' of the undersides of the grippers 7. In the
illustrated embodiment, the moving means is designed to raise or
lower the treating tools 9, 11, 12, 104, 105 and 106 relative to
the grippers 7. Such moving means comprises a carrier 14 in the
form of a horizontal platform having an upper side disposed in a
horizontal plane 16. This plane is parallel to the plane 7' when
the moving means is idle as well as while the carrier 14 is in the
process of moving the treating devices 9, 11, 12, 104, 105 and 106
up or down, i.e., toward or away from the transporting means
including the grippers 7. The carrier 14 is movable up and down and
is guided for such movement in a stationary support 15 which can
constitute or form part of the housing or frame of the perfect
binder. The means for displacing the carrier 14 and the treating
devices thereon relative to the support 15 includes at least one
stepping motor 17 which is mounted in or on the support 15 and one
or more rack and pinion drives 18 (one shown in FIG. 2). The
illustrated drive 18 comprises an upright rack which is affixed to
the carrier 14, and a rotary pinion which is driven by the output
element of the stepping motor 17 and meshes with the rack. This
drive can alter the distance of the plane 16 from the plane 7'.
The working ends of portions of the treating tools 9, 11, 12, 104,
105 and 106 extend upwardly beyond the plane 16, and the distances
of the upper sides 1' to 6' from the plane 7' can be individually
varied by discrete adjusting means including upright toothed racks
19 to 23 which are vertically movably guided in the carrier 14 and
can be moved by discrete stepping motors 24 to 28, respectively.
The rack 19 carries the table 9, the rack 20 carries the milling
device 12 and its motor, the rack 21 carries the grinding wheel 13
and its motor, the rack 22 carries the roller-shaped adhesive
applicators (of which only one is shown in FIG. 2), and the rack 23
carries the plate 106. The stepping motors 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 for
the vertically movable racks 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23, respectively,
are installed in or on the carrier 14. Each of the stepping motors
24-28 can rotate a discrete pinion which mates with the respective
toothed rack (19-23). The just described adjusting means enables a
person in charge of changing the setup of the perfect binder to
individually select the spacings of the upper sides 1' to 6' from
the common plane 7' of the undersides of the grippers 7.
If a change of setup merely involves selecting a different distance
A (i.e., if the relationship of the levels of the upper sides 1' to
6' with reference to each other can remain unchanged), the person
in charge merely starts the stepping motor 17 to raise or to lower
the carrier 14 and all of the treating devices thereon without
altering the levels of the upper sides 1' to 6' relative to each
other and/or relative to the plane 16. All the person in charge
must ensure is that the upper side 3' of the grinding wheel 12
(i.e., of the treating device which determines the ultimate height
of the downwardly extending exposed portion of a stack 8 advancing
beyond the station 3) is spaced apart from the plane 7' by a
distance which matches the desired new value of A. The distances of
the upper sides 1', 2', 4', 5', 6' from the plane 16 are changed to
the same extent as the distance of the upper side 3' from the plane
7' because the person in charge merely starts the stepping motor 17
but need not actuate the stepping motor 24, 25, 26, 27 and/or
28.
As a rule, the distance A will be selected with a view to determine
the width of adhesive films which are to be applied to the major
sides or surfaces of the stacks 8 (the lower portion of one of
these major sides or surfaces is shown in FIG. 2, as at X). On the
other hand, the distances or spacings of the upper sides 1', 2',
4', 5' and 6' from the plane 7' will be determined or selected in
dependency upon the desired quality of the books which leave the
station 6. Such selection of the spacings of the upper sides 1',
2', 4', 5' and/or 6' from the plane 7' or 10 will be made in
dependency upon the thickness of the books, on the thickness of
paper sheets, on the number of sheets in a square folded sheet, on
the quality of paper, on the thickness of the covers 13 and/or
other parameters. The person in charge will start eh motor 24, 25,
26, 27 and/or 28 if a change of setup necessitates joint adjustment
of all treating devices as well as individual adjustment of one or
more discrete treating devices.
The improved perfect binder is preferably further equipped with
means for indicating the selected distance A as well as the
selected spacings of the levels 1' to 6' from the plane 7' or 10.
To this end, the machine is equipped with a computerized control
unit 29 which comprises a keyboard 30 for actuation of the stepping
motors 17 and 24 to 28 as well as for actuation of certain other
components of the perfect binder, and a display 31 which
constitutes a means for automatically indicating the selected
distance A and/or the selected spacings of the upper sides 1' to 6'
from the plane 7' and/or 10. The control unit 29 can be further
equipped with means (not specifically shown) for recording the
selected setup so that the setup can be repeated as often as
desired. The information can be recorded by a printer and/or in a
suitable memory (e.g., a digital memory) of the control unit 29.
The recorded information can be reused as often as necessary to
rapidly reestablish the optimum circumstances for the making of
particular types of books. Depending on the sophistication of the
selected control unit 29, the information which is displayed at 31
can be recorded by hand for future renewed use of the same
setup.
In addition to or in lieu of resorting to a display 31 which is to
indicate the selected distance A as well as the selected spacings
of the upper sides 1' to 6' from the plane 7' and/or 10, the
improved perfect binder can be equipped with a discrete indicator
32 (e.g., a gauge or the like) for each individual treating station
beneath the plane 7'. Still further, the carrier 14 can be equipped
with a graduated scale (not shown) for each of the racks 19 to 23,
and each of these racks can carry a pointer which is movable along
the adjacent graduated scale. The just discussed scales and
pointers then indicate the distances of the upper sides 1' to 6'
from the plane 16 of the upper side of the carrier 14. The
indicator 132 which is shown in the left-hand portion of FIG. 2 is
or can be designed to indicate the distance of the plane 16 from
the plane 7'.
An important advantage of the improved perfect binder is that a
change of setup can be completed within a small fraction of the
time which is required to complete a change of setup in a
conventional perfect binder without the improved moving means
which, in the illustrated embodiment, includes the carrier 14, the
support 15 and the displacing means 17, 18. Such rapid change of
setup can be carried out if the levels of the upper sides 1' to 6'
relative to each other need not be altered while the person in
charge is in the process of changing the distance A.
Another important advantage of the improved perfect binder is that
the aforediscussed moving means can be installed in certain
existing bookbinding machines wherein the levels of various
treating tools relative to the means for transporting the stacks
can be selected in a conventional way.
A further important advantage of the improved perfect binder is
that a particular setup can be memorized and rapidly reestablished
in a fully automatic way to thus further reduce the length of
intervals which are required to complete a change of setup.
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the
gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current
knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without
omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly
constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific
aspects of my contribution to the art and, therefore, such
adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the
meaning and range of equivalence of the appended claims.
* * * * *